Arrangements
by SonsOfAFallenGod
Summary: After the war, the Seireitei needs something to take their minds off the devastation left in its wake. And so Ichigo and Rukia are asked to help. However they are not prepared for what exactly is being "arranged".
1. The Noble Plan

**Disclaimer: Bleach does not belong to me in any way shape or form. Obviously.**

The war had ended. That alone should have been enough to make everyone smile again. But it wasn't. Some pains still lingered. The fallen weren't magically restored to life simply because the fighting had ended now. Around every corner there was someone who had lost everything to the invasion. Some had lost their families, their friends, even their lovers in the wake of destruction.

Even with all the death and devastation scattered around, it was still fact that the world was in better position now than it had been. Even if some wounds would never quite heal, the world was bound to recover in time. Stability would return and peace would reign across the universe again. Or at least, the closest thing to peace the world could know. There may not be a genocidal maniac attempting to overthrow god anymore, but that didn't mean that all conflict would just cease now. But a few petty crimes here and there were preferable to the cessation of existence as they all knew it.

It was with these somber thoughts whirling around his head that Ichigo found himself wandering around the ruined Seireitei. It had been two weeks since Ywach had been defeated and the Soul Society seemed to finally be picking the pieces up again. Reconstruction efforts were in progress all over, workers bustling around carrying lumber and other materials needed to rebuild.

Ichigo's thoughts had been all over the place concerning the end of the war. On the one hand, everything was shaping up to be peaceful again and there didn't seem to be any major threats remaining to the world anymore, but at the same time he couldn't help but feel worried. After all, he had already saved the world from two separate maniacs who wanted to kill or depose the closest thing to God in the universe. And both of them within two years. Unlikely as it was, Ichigo was worrying that a third time wouldn't be far off. He was growing untrusting of peace time. After all, during war at least you knew what the enemy was and who to be worried about. Peace however, was more complicated. And Ichigo wasn't a big fan of complicated.

He was pulled out of his train of thought at the sight of a familiar face in the distance. He walked faster towards the petite figure. She seemed to be ordering around some of the lower ranked members of her squad. Seeing Rukia issuing orders to a large group of people who were all larger than her and seemingly older too amused Ichigo slightly. She was the closest thing that Squad Thirteen had to a captain anymore, but he just found imagery funny. For a brief second, he imagined her giving a speech to an entire army from behind a podium, but due to her rather…diminutive stature being basically hidden behind a podium. Ichigo shook the silly though from his head and approached her.

"Oi!" He waved to get her attention. A brief look of confusion flashed across her face before she realized the source of the voice, with a few quick orders she dismissed the few workers still standing around her and then she smiled slightly as she walked over to Ichigo.

"Well, someone's awfully loud," She chided him. "What's got you wandering around the streets alone? I figured you'd at least have some royal attendant glued to your behind the entire time."

Ichigo sighed. After the war, he had been assigned "personal attendants" by whatever remained of the nobility. They had learned of his Shiba blood, and since they were kinda-sorta nobles at one point or another they decided this meant that Ichigo was a lord of some standing. He hated it, always being followed around by the creepily cheerful butlers and maids. Always smiling and being way too nice. It felt fake. Manufactured. Like they were playing the role of being a helpful assistant. It felt more like they just wanted to spy on him. Which after his newfound popularity as the "Hero of the World" made sense.

"No, I made a point to lose them as soon as I could. I don't need the babysitting all the time." He waved his hand dismissively.

Rukia chuckled, "I'm not so sure about that, you know…."

"What? You think I need watching over?" He challenged, a hint of irritation in his voice.

Rukia smiled, "I mean, yeah. I pretty much have to keep constant watch on you in order to make sure you don't get all mopey. Remember?"

Ichigo grimaced. He didn't need reminding of the period of time she was alluding to. After he'd lost his powers there was indeed a period of time where Rukia hadn't been around, and he had gotten "mopey" but those things were completely unrelated. He didn't need her to watch over him to be happy. He could manage just fine with the speed of the world without her in it….Or so he told himself anyway.

"Yeah, yeah. But enough about me. What are you doing out here?" Ichigo deflected.

Rukia looked around, "I'm having Squad Thirteen assist in rebuilding the Seireitei. Technically, all the rebuilding is being done by Squad Eleven, but I can't just sit around and let them do all the work."

"How'd Squad 11 get stuck doing all the clean up?" Ichigo asked.

"Well, they have the most…enthusiastic workers," She said with a hint of a smile tugging at her lips. "They're always so energetic, so it was decided that they'd put that energy towards something constructive for once. Surprisingly, even Kenpachi went along with it."

That shocked Ichigo for sure, Kenpachi didn't ever really do anything but nap and fight. Rebuilding the city was the last thing Ichigo could imagine him ever doing. "That's …unusual." He said.

"Yeah, that's putting it mildly," Rukia answered, "Honestly, I think he just wants something t distract him…from Unohana being gone. I think it really bothered him."

That made sense. Ichigo had heard the story about what happened between them after the war. He wasn't really sure what sort of relationship the two of them had before, but he could see that her death wouldn't be an easy thing for Kenpachi to move on from.

"Morbid topics aside, I'm actually happy to see you," Rukia said after a brief moment of silence. "How have you been holding up? Where have you been staying? The Squad Four barracks? Did you get treated after the battle? Are you-"

Ichigo waved his hands around to cut through the endless barrage of questions, "Rukia, relax. Take a breath. One at a time please. But to answer you're questions in order; I'm okay. Squad Four's. Yes. And yes. I'm completely injury free." He did a small spin around as if to emphasize this point.

Rukia realizing that she had gone a bit overboard blushed slightly, but quickly regained her composure. She had barely seen him since the war ended. She had meant to talk to him sooner but her responsibilities had kept her busy. She was happy to have run into him here, and even more so to see that he was alright. Even so it was embarrassing that she had rambled on like that.

She had been about to say something else when a new voice called out to her. "Lady Kuchiki." She turned to see an older man who she recognized as one of her brother's servants addressing her, "And Lord Kurosaki as well. That is most fortuitous."

"And why is that?" Rukia asked him, curiosity brimming.

"Lord Kuchiki is currently requesting your presence. Both of you. He said he has important matters to discuss with the two of you." The servant bowed low and made his exit without waiting for a response from either of them.

Ichigo was slightly concerned, being summoned out of the blue by Byakuya was not his idea of a fun surprise. "Any idea what that's about?" He asked Rukia.

Her voice was uncertain as she replied. "No idea. But it's probably a bad idea to keep him waiting."

With that exchange, they made to leave before Rukia stopped for a second to issue more orders to the men there. She quickly wrapped up with them and rushed over to Ichigo and the two of them began to make their way to the Kuchiki estate.

Along the way, Ichigo began to wonder what exactly Byakuya wanted to see him about. Rukia he understood, it was most likely some sort of family business in that case. But Ichigo hadn't so much as spoken to Byakuya since the war ended, and it's not like he was the type for social calls. It also seemed unlikely that it had anything to do with the Soul Society as a whole, since those orders would most likely come from Squad One. He couldn't think of anything he could have done to offend him lately either, though he wouldn't be too surprised if he had somehow. Byakuya was way too uptight and old-fashioned. Hell, that applied to the family at large as far as Ichigo could tell.

Without coming up with any solid guesses as to why he was summoned, his feet finally brought him to the Kuchiki estate. He entered the grounds side by side with Rukia and decided to let her lead the way, it was her house after all. Ichigo followed behind her quietly, just taking in the scenery. He was rarely ever here, and it was always under more stressful circumstances. He had never really appreciated just how beautiful the place was. His home was a modern house, and not exactly high class either. But even if he had been used to living in luxury all his life, he still doubted it could compare to elegance of the Kuchiki estate. It was an older styled mansion, like the rest of the Soul Society, but it still felt a class apart from the rest. Ichigo was by no means an architect, so he couldn't really say anything too detailed about the style or construction, but he felt impressed nonetheless. To be expected of Byakuya's house, he supposed.

Within a few minutes they had arrived outside Byakuya's study. Taking a breath, Rukia knocked lightly on the door.

The reply from inside came shortly thereafter, "Enter."

Ichigo and Rukia looked at each other for a moment, then nodded before the two of them opened the door and proceeded into the study. The walls to the left and right of the door were completely covered in bookshelves and hundreds upon hundreds of books and scrolls. Directly ahead of the door was an ornate desk with large windows behind it. Byakuya was seated at his desk, with a small pile of paperwork in front of him. He looked up as the two entered and gestured wordlessly to the two chairs in front of his desk. The two of them sat down and waited a moment for Byakuya to speak.

Byakuya finished the paper he had been writing on and sat the pen and paper off the side before looking directly at the two of them finally for the first time since entering the room. Gray piercing eyes analyzing the two of them. "I apologize for the sudden summons, however there has been a recent development that I believe the two of you should be informed of as soon as possible."

"Development? What kind of development?" Rukia asked her older brother.

"As the two of you are surely aware, the reconstruction efforts have been proceeding smoothly. The Seireitei stands to be completely rebuilt within the next two months." Byakuya began.

"That's great news, but I don't see what that's got to do with us…" Ichigo interrupted.

Instead of answering, Byakuya simply shot an icy glare at Ichigo as if to reprimand him for cutting in. He then continued, "The repairs are going well, but there is still the matter of the public morale. The building may be getting restored but that is meaningless without the wellbeing of the citizens in them. The war took a heavy toll on all of us. Many in the Soul Society have been dealing with severe stress and PTSD. And despite our best efforts, it seems that the public isn't going to recover nearly as quickly as the city itself. It's difficult for them to move on when everything going on in the Soul Society is still being impacted by the war in one way or another." He closed his eyes and took a breath before continuing, "As such, the Great Noble Houses have come up with a plan in order to lift public spirits and get their minds off of the war."

"That's great news! Is this plan why you summoned us, brother?" Rukia asked.

Ichigo nodded, "Yeah, I mean I'm all for helping out."

Another deep breath from Byakuya. It almost seemed like he was dreading what he was about to say. "That is indeed why I asked for the two of you. The nobility has decided that in order to counteract the negative emotions floating about that all that the people need is some happy occasion to take their minds off of the conflict."

Ichigo nodded, "Yeah, I could see that working. But what exactly would we need to do for that?"

Byakuya paused before he answered, as if he was trying to find the best words. "The nobility would like…to announce your engagement."

Stunned silence followed, eventually broken by Ichigo stammering, "E-engagement? To w-who?"

"To Rukia, naturally. It would do wonders for the morale of the people if two of the heroes of the war were to be married." Came the matter of fact response. Followed by a slightly more bitter tone of voice, "As much as I am …not fond of you marrying into the Kuchiki family…I have to concede to the elders on this. Their logic is sound. Besides, it was only going to be a matter of time before Rukia was going to asked to find a husband anyway. At least this way, it can be with someone she knows and trusts and not with some noble she does not know."

Ichigo looked over at Rukia for the first time since hearing the idea and saw that her face was a brighter shade of red than Renji's hair. She quickly seemed very interested in what was on the ground and cast her gaze downwards. He looked back at Byakuya. "This is…" He started to say before he completely ran out of words. He didn't know what he wanted to say. This is crazy? Too sudden? Ridiculous? All of the above? Whatever he had been meaning to say was thrown out the window when he heard Rukia's voice.

"I understand. I…accept the engagement." Her voice was hesitant, but there was no denying he words she had said.

Ichigo was shocked, he could feel his face growing redder by the second. "Wait…what? You do? I mean we can't…We're-"

"Kurosaki, are you implying that there is something wrong with marrying Rukia?" Byakuya interjected.

"Yes!" Ichigo exclaimed, before seeing the mistake he had just made. "I mean no! Of course not! There is nothing wrong with Rukia, I just had never considered …marrying…her…before." His voice trailed off as he looked back and forth between the two Kuchiki's. Byakuya's face was as stony as ever, but on Rukia's there was a strange look he couldn't quite place. Ichigo was trying very hard to not just start rambling gibberish. It was very difficult for him to think clearly at the moment. And being around Byakuya wasn't helping matters much. He felt like one wrong word and he would have to deal with a sudden increase in flower petals in the room.

Byakuya's cool voice cut across the silence, "I understand that this is a very serious matter, that the two of you would need to think about for a while. Therefore, I give the two of you until this time tomorrow to give me your answer. Take your time and discuss it amongst yourselves. I await your favorable reply."

With that, the two of them were free to leave. As the door to the study slid shut behind him, Ichigo found himself thinking back to his thoughts from earlier. Peace was definitely more complicated than he liked.


	2. A Much Needed Talk

**A/N-Thank you to everyone who read and liked the first chapter. I really appreciate it. A shorter chapter for now, the next one will probably be this weekend. Please enjoy!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Bleach. **

Ichigo Kurosaki was not very in touch with his feelings. Unless of course you were to count feelings which lead to him putting his fist in touch with someone else's face. He was very good at managing that particular subset of feelings. But the emotions flooding his system as the door to Byakuya's study closed behind him were definitely of a different category altogether.

Romance was not a subject that he was very well-versed in. Marriage even less so. He wasn't stupid, he knew that at some point or another he would most likely end up married. But he had figured he at least had a few years before he had to start worrying about that. He was still in high school for crying out loud. He'd never even been on an actual date. But to jump from that all the way to getting married in the span of one conversation? It was insane.

Never mind the fact that he was being asked to marry Rukia, someone who had stabbed him twice. And he was being asked by her brother. Who not too long ago was trying to execute her. For stabbing Ichigo the first time. And then tried to kill Ichigo himself. Life took some strange turns to get here.

The thought of Rukia made him realize that she was still standing next him. He looked over at her to see that she was already staring at him. Most likely waiting to see if he was about to freak out. In that moment Ichigo found himself staring back into her eyes. They really are beautiful. Deep. He could have gazed in those amethyst pools for hours.

His train of thought was derailed by the sound of her voice, "Are you okay?"

He blinked a few times and quickly shook his head as if to shake out the weird feeling he'd just had. "Yeah…I'm fine."

Rukia looked at him meaningfully, as if trying to determine whether he truly was alright or not. Once she seemed satisfied that he wasn't about to collapse or anything, she took a deep slow breath and said, "I guess we need to talk about this."

"Oh…yeah." Ichigo's voice still sounded distracted. "Uh, lead the way…", he gestured ahead of him. Assuming that she wanted to go somewhere a bit more private to discuss everything.

He fell in behind her as she walked silently toward her room. He wasn't sure but as they walked, it felt like the building had gotten a few degrees colder. He still had no idea what he could say about this. He was thinking a million different things about the marriage idea, but none of them were sticking around in his head long enough for him to have any sort of coherent thought. For some reason every time the idea of marrying her popped into his head, he just remembered her eyes from a few moments ago and then he lost his train of thought and had to start over. He couldn't focus.

As Rukia slid open the door to her room, Ichigo was suddenly struck with another realization. If he was expected to marry Rukia, did that mean that the two of them were expected to have kids too? Then they would have to…the thought caused his face to suddenly feel like it was on fire. He was glad to be standing behind her, so that she couldn't see the shade of scarlet his face must be.

Rukia sat down at a small tea table and motioned for Ichigo to come join her. He sat down across from her and took a deep breath to steady himself before he asked, "Okay, so what the hell? Marriage? Just out of nowhere? And why on earth did you agree right away?"

Rukia's face was slightly pink as she replied, "To be honest, I kind of expected this. Or part of it anyway."

"What do you mean?" Ichigo asked. "You said you didn't know what he was gonna say."

"I mean, that I was expecting at some point to be asked to marry some random noble. I'm a Kuchiki after all. And one who has a Bankai on top of that. Nobility tends to highly value bloodlines like that…even if I was adopted into the family." She paused, her face seeming even redder than before, "To be honest, I was relieved today when they asked you." She seemed to notice what she had just said because her face grew a few shades redder and she quickly added, "I'm just glad it isn't some creepy ugly noble I don't even know. I mean you're bad enough, but come on…" She said the last line playfully.

"Oh bite me" Ichigo retorted. "So you suspected something like this was coming, but that still doesn't really explain to me why you said yes immediately. I mean, we don't have to do it, do we?"

Rukia breathed deep. "No, I suppose we don't. But the idea behind it was good, I thought. It would definitely help cheer people up around here after…everything."

"So you'd get married just for P.R.?" Ichigo asked incredulous.

"Don't be an idiot…Not just that." Rukia responded quietly. "Like my brother said, better you than someone I don't know, right?"

"Yeah, but I mean-"

"You seem awfully against the idea, you know?" Rukia interjected, "Is there something wrong with marrying me in particular?" Her voice barely hid a hint of danger. Ichigo knew if he said something careless, he'd probably catch a small fist in his nose.

"No…there's nothing wrong with you. It's just…" Ichigo began.

"Is there someone else you'd rather marry? I wasn't aware you had a girlfriend, but was I mistaken?" Rukia asked, her voice returning to a more normal tone.

Ichigo was getting more and more flustered with each question. "No. There's no one else, I just-"

"Then what's the issue?" Rukia asked innocently. "You don't have any prior commitments, this will help people..." She smiled brazenly before adding, "You also get to marry a beautiful woman like me."

Ichigo chuckled slightly despite himself. "Yeah, lemme just throw away any semblance of a plan for the future just for a pretty girl. If I made decisions like that, I'd basically be Kon."

Rukia laughed, "Oh, he is gonna be so jealous." She smiled. "Just think of it like this- We're always gonna be around each other anyway, right? So this would just put a fancy title on it. I mean, we're stuck together forever marriage or not, right?"

"I can see what you mean, but…" Ichigo said, "I haven't exactly agreed to it, you know." He took a breath and finally said the thing that'd been on his mind since sitting down. "You know they'd expect us to have kids at some point…right?"

Rukia's face flushed scarlet. "I…was aware."

Ichigo felt his face reddening at the implication. "This is crazy, you know? We can't just-"

"Do you not want to?" Rukia asked. For the briefest moment her voice sounded worried. Like she was scared of the answer.

"What do you mean?" Ichigo asked, noting the worry in her voice and trying to be extra careful to not say the wrong thing.

Rukia shook her head. "Never mind." She smiled softly as if to show that nothing was wrong. "Either way, I will understand your decision. I…" She looked him in the eyes again and once again Ichigo had trouble focusing on anything else. " I…will be fine with whatever you decide. I'll always be around, you know? As your friend or fiancée, whichever you prefer."

In that moment a lot of memories flooded through Ichigo's mind. Their first meeting. When she gave him her powers to save his family. Those weeks they'd spent together fighting hollows. Her capture. Her saving him from her brother. The fight to get her back. He remembered feeling slightly disappointed when she had stayed behind in the Soul Society afterwards. In the span of a few seconds every minute the two of them had ever spent together came flooding back to Ichigo. A warm feeling began emanating from his chest at the recollection.

"Okay." He said simply. "I'll do it."

Rukia seemed shocked by that. "What did you just say…?"

"I said I'll do it," Ichigo repeated, "You…gave me my life as I know it. I can think of worse people to spend it with."

Rukia smiled at him, but this smile looked different than all the other times Ichigo had ever seen her smile. He'd seen playful smiles, fake smiles, sarcastic smirks…but not this. This looked completely pure and genuine, like the famous Kuchiki mask had fallen off completely and behind it was a beautiful girl just happy to be accepted. Looking at that her now, Ichigo realized that he was entirely okay seeing that smile for the rest of his life.


	3. A Big Question

**A/N-Sorry for taking so long to update, work has been crazy. Big thank you to everyone who's reading and letting me know what you thought so far. **

**Disclaimer: I do not own Bleach.**

It was nearly noon the day after the arranged marriage had been brought up. Ichigo was still laying in bed. Rukia had let him stay in one of the guest rooms at her place instead of having to go all the way back to Squad Four's for another night. He hadn't slept much the night before. There had been too much on his mind. Which was to be expected, all things considered. He had gone from single to engaged overnight, after all.

Engaged. The word felt strange in his head. Foreign. Like it was used to describe someone else, not him. He may have ended up agreeing with the plan, but it still didn't feel any less odd to think of him and Rukia getting married. They had known each other for roughly two years and this was honestly the first time the thought of marriage had ever entered his mind. If he was being completely honest with himself, he had considered asking her out once or twice. It had never been a very serious thought in his head, but the idea had crossed his mind nonetheless. After all, nearly everyone at school had believed them to be dating or something when she had first given him her power. Not that he could blame other people for thinking that, after all the two of them would often disappear together and were almost always seen around each other. The idea of them dating definitely made more sense than the fact that they had been hunting down monsters and that she was not exactly human.

Life is strange. One day, Ichigo Kurosaki was a (relatively) average student. The next, he's off fighting monsters at the behest of a bossy little Soul Reaper. Ichigo smiled to himself. That little Soul Reaper changed everything about his life in one fell swoop. She gave him power when he had been powerless. She gave him courage when he had been weak. She had even been willing to give her life to spare his. And all this had been within the first two or three months of knowing her. She was really something else.

Maybe that had been the real reason that Ichigo had fought so desperately to save her. He hadn't just been paying back a debt. Though he had been grateful for the excuse to give everyone else. He couldn't exactly tell everyone how…bad it'd felt to see her disappear beyond that Senkaimon, how painful it had been to lying there in the rain unable to save another woman he cared for. He couldn't even understand himself at the time, all he had known was that he was going to save her.

And save her he had. Partly against her wishes. But he wasn't going to let her die. No matter what. She had been willing to die for him so it seemed only fair that he be willing to die for her. Of course, neither of them had ended up dying. And with their mutual survival, it left doors open for further developments in their relationship. Like this engagement, apparently.

Ichigo sighed, he figured it was about time to finally get up and get dressed. He had to tell Byakuya what he had decided soon. It was not a conversation he was looking forward to. Even though he was agreeing to the plan, he still felt like Byakuya would find some way to be pissy about it.

"It's no use delaying the inevitable, I guess." Ichigo muttered to himself as he got dressed. He checked himself in the mirror to ensure that everything looked fine. After rubbing the last of the sleep out of his eyes, he slid open the door to walk out and nearly bumped into Rukia, with her hand raised mid-knock.

"Oh, hi there." Ichigo said somewhat surprised. "What are you doing here?"

Rukia for her part seemed mildly flustered, "I…uh…I came to see if you had spoken to my brother yet."

"Oh, no. I was just on my way over there in fact," Ichigo replied.

Rukia seemed to be suppressing a smile as she asked, "Wanna go together?"

Ichigo nodded, "Yeah, sure. I mean after all it does involve both of us…"

As they made their way toward Byakuya's office, Ichigo's mind began to wander. He tried to imagine the look on Byakuya's face when he had first been informed of the idea of the engagement. Would Byakuya have even made a face? Or would he have taken the news with the same stony stoicism he always had? Imagining a emotionally shocked Byakuya was more amusing though, so Ichigo spent the next few minutes picturing different versions of Byakuya freaking out.

His mental exercise left Ichigo with a bit of a smile on his face as the two of them knocked on the door to Byakuya's study. The sound of the owner's cool voice dampered Ichigo's mood only slightly.

"Enter."

Ichigo and Rukia did as they were bid and entered the room they had been in yesterday. The room looked the exact same as it had the day before, except for an even bigger pile of papers sitting in front of Byakuya this time. The two of them sat in the same chairs in front of his desk as they had last time. The three of them were silent for a moment.

Byakuya was the first to speak, "I take it this is in relation to the conversation we had yesterday?"

Ichigo looked over at Rukia before he replied, "Yes. It is."

"Have you come to a decision, Ichigo Kurosaki?" Byakuya's voice was as stoic as ever.

Ichigo took a deep breath. "I'll do it." He looked from Byakuya's impassive face over to Rukia, who had a slight smile tugging at edge of her mouth. It seemed she was still trying to appear "professional" around her brother.

Byakuya nodded, "And I assume your answer is the same, Rukia?" He looked over at his sister. He gave her a searching look.

"It is. I accept the engagement." Rukia answered, full of confidence.

Byakuya closed his eyes for a moment, "Very well." He was silent for a few seconds, "In that case, I have a question I wish to ask the two of you. Individually." He gestured toward the door, "Kurosaki. If you would be so kind as to leave me and my sister alone for a moment. I'll talk to you afterwards."

"Oh…uh sure." Ichigo replied as he quickly stood up and made his way to the hallway outside.

While he was standing outside the room, Ichigo began to wonder just what Byakuya was asking Rukia about. Their voices carried slightly to the hall. He strained to listen in, but he couldn't make out anything being said. All he could tell was that Rukia was doing most of the talking.

A few minutes passed, before the door slid open and revealed a slightly pink in the face Rukia standing there. She looked embarrassed. Ichigo looked at her quizzically. "What did he ask?"

Rukia shook her head. "You'll find out soon enough. Just…try not to make too much of an ass of yourself in there."

"An ass of myself? What the hell is that about?" Ichigo asked.

"Just go." Rukia said, "It'll make more sense after."

Ichigo simply nodded and made to walk past her into the study. As the door slid shut behind him he was once again greeted by Byakuya motioning for him to sit across from him. He did as he was bid. As soon as he sat down he asked, "So what's this big question you wanna ask?"

Byakuya took a breath, "I'll make it simple. Do you love my sister?" His face showed no indication that he was the slightest bit embarrassed asking such a blunt question.

Ichigo on the other hand, immediately turned a shade so red that it put Renji's hair to shame. "WHATTTT?!"

"It's a simple enough question, I believe."

"Did- Did you ask Rukia the same question?" Ichigo stammered.

Byakuya shook his head. "Of course not. I asked her if she loved you. Not if she loved my sister."

Hell of a distinction there. Ichigo suddenly understood the embarrassed look Rukia had.

"What…did she say?" Ichigo asked before he could stop himself. He couldn't help but wonder what she had said about him when asked that.

"Feel free to ask her after this." Byakuya said, "But first, you still haven't answered me."

Ichigo felt like was nearing a stroke. He wanted to implode. He wanted to run away and hide. He really didn't want to be having this talk with Byakuya right now. He almost found himself missing Aizen. Sure, Aizen may have been an irredeemable psychopath with a god complex, but at least Aizen had never asked him to think about romance.

"I…" Ichigo began, "I…don't know." It was the truth. He really had no idea what exactly he was feeling toward that little Soul Reaper anymore. Once he would have just said that they were friends and nothing more, but the whole engagement thing had forced him to reexamine some things. He knew he wanted to keep her safe and happy. He knew he would do anything for that. Is that love? He wasn't really sure. "I…just want her to have the best possible future she can. She…is very precious to me." Ichigo realized what it was beginning to sound like, "But I don't know if I'd say I'm in love or anything…" He added the last line hastily as if he was trying to convince himself.

Byakuya seemed utterly expressionless as he said, "In that case, allow me a second question…What would you be willing to give for her happiness?"

Without even thinking about it, Ichigo had an answer, "Everything. I'd give everything I had for her to be happy." Ichigo chuckled, "You should know that, Byakuya. I kicked your ass for her after all."

Danger flashed across Byakuya's face for a brief moment before he simply closed his eyes and nodded once. "I understand." Byakuya then stood up and Ichigo quickly rose to meet him. Byakuya extended a hand for Ichigo to shake.

"Welcome to the family."


	4. A Big Question- Rukia's Side

**A/N- Sorry for the long delay, I've been having major issues with my internet. I've had this chapter done for a few days already but this is my first chance to post it. Hope you enjoy! **

It was early morning the day after Byakuya had mentioned the noble's plan of marrying Rukia and Ichigo. Rukia lay awake, she had hardly slept at all. The previous night she and Ichigo had both decided to accept the plan and go through with their engagement. She was still somewhat surprised that Ichigo had agreed so quickly. She honestly expected that he'd need way more convincing.

She'd stayed up most of the night trying to understand what was going on in Ichigo's head. She most certainly didn't have trouble sleeping because she was excited about being engaged. She had not spent several hours thinking of wedding plans and various ways to incorporate Chappy into the decorations. But most of all she was not excited that it was Ichigo. She wasn't happy at all about it…or maybe just a little.

Her totally nonexistent joy aside, there was another matter that had been on her mind since hearing about the engagement. At some point they'd have to tell the public. And that meant that everyone would know. Renji, Ichigo's friends, and most terrifying of all- Rangiku. Rukia shuddered thinking of the millions of questions she'd hear from her. And she guessed at least half of them would be…risqué in some fashion. Rukia wasn't sure she had the mental fortitude to handle that just yet.

Deciding that lying in bed any longer was pointless, Rukia slowly got up and attempted to shake the last vestiges of sleep from her body. As she got dressed, she decided she should go and check on Ichigo. Just to see how he was handling all the news. Not at all because she just wanted to see him.

He had stayed in a one of the guest rooms in the mansion last night after their talk. It happened to be the closest spare room to Rukia's. That made the trip over rather short and was in no way an intentional choice on her part. Having him close by didn't make her feel more relaxed, or safe. Rukia shook her head slowly. Even she had to admit her denials were pretty flimsy.

Her internal debate still raging, she found herself outside the door to Ichigo's room. She hesitated for a moment. She suddenly felt nervous, for some reason. She couldn't quite think of why. Ever since the engagement had been brought up, she had moments like this when Ichigo was involved. She took a deep breath in order to calm herself down.

Just as she was finally about to knock on his door, it swung open on its own and the orange haired Soul Reaper was standing there. His sudden appearance startled Rukia slightly. It took her a second to recover and realize he had asked her what she was doing.

"I…uh…I came to see if you had spoken to my brother yet." It was the truth, yet it still felt like it was only half of the truth. In reality, it felt as though she just wanted to see him. Not that she was willing to admit that out loud, of course.

Ichigo for his part didn't seem to notice anything unusual in what she had said. "Oh no. I was just on my way over there in fact."

She quickly offered to go with him. He accepted easily enough. Rukia was interested in seeing exactly what Ichigo was going to say to her brother. Byakuya was a very…old fashioned man, so she hoped that Ichigo didn't do or say anything too bad and cause Byakuya to possibly call off the engagement. The thought of going through all this thinking about marrying Ichigo and then having it called off was enough to infuriate Rukia. After all this, they had better get married dammit. She didn't want to have gotten her hopes up for nothing.

Wait. Gotten her hopes up? She replayed that thought back in her head. So, she had her hopes up about this situation? About marrying Ichigo? She wanted to deny it, out of habit at this point if no other reason, but she couldn't bring herself to deny it. Not that she had too much of an opportunity, because shortly after this realization the two of them had made it to Byakuya's office and Ichigo had already knocked.

After Byakuya's voice beckoned them inside, the two of them sat in the same spots they had the day before. It didn't take long for Ichigo to announce that he had accepted the engagement. Byakuya showed no reaction to this news, beyond a quick glance over at Rukia, as if to gauge her thoughts on the matter. After confirming that Rukia was still okay with engagement as well, Byakuya had said that he wanted to ask each of them a question. Individually. And he had ushered Ichigo out of the room so that he could speak to Rukia first.

Rukia felt a twinge of her earlier nervousness return, but she quickly dismissed it and granted her brother her full undivided attention.

Byakuya's voice was as stoic as ever, "I'll try to keep this as simple as possible. Do you love him?"

Rukia's eyes widened. She hadn't been prepared for this line of questioning from her brother. It felt more like something she'd have to deal with coming from the Soul Reaper's Women's Association. Though it honestly shouldn't have come as such a surprise that Byakuya would want to know that, after all this is marriage being talked about. She opened her mouth as if to answer but couldn't immediately find the words to say so she closed it again.

Byakuya seemed to notice her having difficulty and said, "Maybe it would be more prudent to ask what you think of the idea of marrying him?"

Rukia took a deep breath. She was determined to give an actual answer. "To be honest, brother, I haven't exactly figured that out myself…On the one hand this entire situation is ridiculous, I mean an arranged marriage out of nowhere with barely a day to even think about it? It's kinda overwhelming. This time last week marriage was the furthest thing from my mind and now it's being pushed to the forefront. I'm having to ask questions I wasn't really prepared to ask…It's enough to make you go crazy if you think about it too much." Rukia chuckled, "But on the other hand…I can't say I don't want to do this…the idea, as much as it may terrify me to think of getting married out of nowhere like this, the idea of it being Ichigo…makes it okay, I think. I can't think of anyone else I'd rather be forced into marrying." She paused for a moment. "Actually, that's not quite right. It's not even that I'm being forced to marry him or anything. I just want to. I want to marry him." As she said those words she realized the truth of them, and all her little attempts at denying it to herself fell by the wayside. The realization spurred her on and now that she had started, she found it difficult to stop talking, "I never really thought of the future that much, but ever since I met Ichigo, he's always been a part of it. No matter what the situation in the future, I've always believed that he and I would face it together. Either as friends, colleagues, or…something more. He's been by my side ever since we met, and he has risked everything for my sake more times than I want to remember. He…is the most important man in my life. He saved me, not just from being executed, but from myself. He helped me grow to love myself again…To be honest, even without this arranged marriage, I know our futures would be forever intertwined. It just feels…right."

Byakuya nodded with a slight hint of a smile, "So I guess I have the answer to whether you love him or not."

Rukia smiled, "Yes. I suppose I do… I love him." Once again, the words felt good to say, and helped her dispel any lingering thoughts or doubts she'd been harboring about her feelings. "I don't know if I'd ever have realized this without being forced to consider all this because of the arranged marriage idea, but I feel as though I've loved him for a while. I just…never had the word for it. I've wanted nothing more than to help him. To save him like he's done for me, so many times now and so many ways. It honestly feels as though I was just waiting all my life for that idiot to show up." She felt a sense of happiness wash over her as she thought about all they've done for each other in such a short span of time.

After listening to her answer, Byakuya took a moment and asked, "Then allow me to ask one final question. Do you think you will be happy with him?"

Rukia nodded, "I don't think I could be happy with anyone else…I mean I'm sure that at some point I'll want to smother him in his sleep. But I wouldn't want it any other way…He's a crass, annoying, self-righteous idiot… But he's my idiot." Her possessive declaration brought a smile to her lips. "Despite how often we argue, I've never felt as happy as I am with him…As natural. I don't have to act, to pretend…I can let the masks fall to the side. I can just…be. And nothing could ever make me happier than knowing that I'll be by his side for the rest of my life."

Rukia finished her little speech. She suddenly felt a bit embarrassed when she realized just how candid she had been. She was glad that Ichigo had left the room, because there was no way she would have managed to say all of that with him in earshot. Knowing that she was in love with him was one thing, but there was no way she was about to inflate his ego by telling him all that…Yet.


	5. Keigo Asks Real Questions (Not Really)

**A/N- Sorry for the long hiatus. But thank you to everyone reading and leaving reviews letting me know what you thought. Makes it so much easier to keep writing!**

It had been two weeks since Rukia and Ichigo's engagement. In that time, Ichigo had stayed in the Soul Society in order to, for lack of a better term, raise awareness of the engagement. Byakuya and the nobles had Ichigo and on more or less a public relations job, in order to please the public….or whatever. In all honesty, Ichigo had kinda zoned out when Byakuya had tried to explain what exactly the point of him making the rounds of the Soul Society was. The short version was that people hearing about the marriage of two war heroes was something that the people could focus on without dredging up unpleasant memories of the war. It felt like a bunch of celebrity gossip magazines to Ichigo, but even in the living world the masses loved hearing about famous people's love lives. Ichigo didn't really get the appeal of it all, but in the end it didn't really matter. All that's important in the end is that the people have something nice to celebrate instead of all the morbid feelings since the war.

And people had definitely been celebrating. Ichigo and Rukia had been guests at no less than 10 parties thrown in their honor. At least ostensibly, anyway. In practice, it appeared a lot of people just wanted an excuse to get drunk and go crazy. No matter how posh or noble the parties had started off, eventually it always ended with far too much alcohol and people passed out on the floor. Rangiku was probably to blame for it. She always seemed to be there pulling drinks out of nowhere and suggesting everyone have a shot…or twenty. Though to be honest, Ichigo didn't mind too much that they all ended up like that. It kept him from having to do too much in the way of public speaking. And all being said, the whole point of this was to make the people happy, right? And it's hard to deny that people running around drunk with lampshades in their heads are happy.

An unfortunate side effect of all this party going however, was that Ichigo and Rukia hadn't had much time to talk alone with each other since this whole thing had started. They were separately chauffeured between events and they were sleeping in opposite wings of the Kuchiki estate. The only real interaction they'd had was to talk at the parties, but even then someone or another always wanted to talk to one of them at a time or something. And it's not like they could just disappear from the party together. Everyone was always watching them. So in the past two weeks, the two of them had barely done more than exchange greetings. Which Ichigo saw as morbidly ironic, since the two of them were now engaged, you would think that they would be closer than ever right now, but they had barely been able to speak at all. It was beginning to get frustrating, honestly.

It was with this frustration in mind that he approached Byakuya and asked for permission for both him and Rukia to go to the world of the living in order to inform their friends of their impending marriage. Originally, the plan had been for Ichigo to go back home alone for a few days, just long enough to tell everyone and then he was supposed to hurry back to the Soul Society in order to make preparations for the wedding. Naturally, Ichigo wasn't fond of this idea. He wanted more time back in his world. He wanted more time to explain things to everything. And not the least of all he wanted to bring Rukia with him. They were her friends too. And besides, if the both of them were allowed to return the world of the living then they should be able to actually get some time to themselves for a while. Surprisingly, Byakuya didn't require much convincing in order to let Rukia come along and to give them a longer time over in the living world. The deadline was bumped from two days to two weeks.

It was the first morning in the world of the living. They had gathered all their friends from school in order to tell them all at once. They were all meeting in a nice café, sitting in a booth in a corner. Ichigo had decided that sitting as far from the rest of the patrons as possible was a good idea, since he foresaw at least one shouting outburst from someone. Probably Keigo. Which of course turned out to be the case.

"WHATTTTTTTT?!" Keigo screamed with such a high pitched voice, it may as well have been Orihime shouting. "W-What do you mean you guys are getting married?! You weren't even dating! …Or were you?! You were, weren't you! And of course no one tells me anything! Its so unfairrrrrrr!" His protestations were loud and insufferable as always.

To be fair, Ichigo probably could have lead into it a bit better. As soon as everyone had exchanged greetings, he had immediately bluntly stated that he and Rukia were getting married. He figured it was better to just get that out in the open as soon as possible instead of beating around the bush for an hour trying to think of a smooth way of saying it. He looked over at Rukia and saw that she seemed nearly as shocked as Keigo. Okay, so maybe he should've warned her beforehand what his plan was. He did a quick look around the table to see how everyone was reacting to the news as he tried to formulate a follow up to Keigo's outburst.

Chad seemed as stoic as ever, though Ichigo could swear he saw a slight grin pulling at the edge of his mouth though he wasn't sure. Uryu seemed stunned speechless, which Ichigo was grateful for. There was a limit to the amount of outbursts he could handle at once. Orihime had an odd expression on her face and when she noticed him looking at her she quickly shifted her gaze downward. Seeing her like that for some reason made Ichigo feel slightly guilty, though he couldn't quite explain why. Next to her, Tatsuki looked angry for some reason. He couldn't really understand that either. Keigo was as loud and idiotic as ever, crying about life's great unfairness. Mizuiro seemed exasperated by Keigo's outburst. Like usual.

"We weren't dating…exactly." Ichigo tried to explain. "You see…"

"What do you mean not exactly dating?" Tatsuki asked, with a light hint of danger in her voice.

"Oh, uh…" Ichigo said, caught slightly off guard, "I mean it's a …political thing? I guess?"

"What this idiot is trying to say…poorly…is that our marriage was proposed to us by the nobility of the Soul Society as a means of taking the public's mind off of the causalities suffered in the war with the Quincies." Rukia interjected.

"Whaaaaaa?" Keigo asked in his usual eloquent manner. His incredulity was shared amongst the rest of the friends gathered there. Each of them had a different shocked or puzzled reaction to this particular bit of information.

Rukia took a breath before continuing. "Believe me, the two of us were just as shocked as the rest of you."

Ichigo interjected, "Yeah, no kidding. This whole thing really came out of nowhere."

"Allow me to see if I've got this right," Uryu said, adjusting his glasses as he did, "The nobility can't do anything to curb negative public morale, and so as a last ditch effort they're forcing you two to get married as a method of distracting the public from their own failings to recover?"

Well, it was nice to see that Uryu was as fond of the Soul Society as ever. Though Ichigo did have to admit, he got the gist of it. Aside from one key detail that was.

"They didn't force us." Ichigo stated.

It was a simple thing. Only four words, but they carried a lot of weight behind them. Whether or not Ichigo himself could really explain what that meant. He was sure that it mattered though. This was their choice in the end. Not something forced on them. Claiming that he had been forced into it was sure to breed animosity or resentment of some kind. Life had been crazy ever since he and Rukia had met, seemingly forcing the two of them to deal with more and more ridiculous things as the years passed. But this was different. Sure, neither of them probably would have ever done it if Byakuya hadn't asked them to think about it, but that didn't change the fact that they chose it. They could have said no. Ichigo nearly had at first.

A quiet voice interrupted his inner reverie, "What do you mean, exactly?" Looking at the source, it was Orihime with a strange expression on her face.

Ichigo took a breath before he answered, looking around the table he realized that everyone was staring at intently, especially Tatsuki, Rukia and Orihime. "I mean…that all they said to us was their idea and they asked us to think it over. We weren't forced into this. We could have said no. I nearly did, honestly. But in the end we made this decision ourselves."

Tatsuki quickly asked, "Why? You guys weren't dating before or anything right? So isn't that kinda crazy to go from nothing to married? And there had to be other ways to cheer up the Soul Society…I mean you probably coulda done the same thing with a big enough party or making Byakuya dress in a cute outfit or something."

The image of Byakuya dressed like Chappy momentarily flashed across Ichigo's mind. He quickly dismissed the image.

Ichigo chuckled slightly, "Yeah, I know. It's crazy from a purely objective view. Like there's no way that this should be something that makes sense to me. But it just does. I've had to think about a lot of things because of this. Like the future and how I want it to play out. And I realized that in every future I envisioned, Rukia was always there…" Ichigo quickly realized what he was saying and let his voice trail off embarrassed. He looked over and saw that Rukia looked nearly as embarrassed as he was. He was kinda surprised that she hadn't interrupted him at some point.

At that point, Orihime stood up, "I'm not feeling too well, I think I'm going to go home." Without waiting for a reply she quickly excused herself and left the table.

"I hope she's okay. Hope it isn't a stomach bug. Those are the worst." Ichigo said.

Tatsuki facepalmed. "You're an idiot. I'm gonna go check on her and make sure she's alright." She then got up and went after her.

Ichigo wasn't sure what he'd done to be labeled an idiot, but he was too concerned about what was wrong with Orihime to worry about it too much.

Chad spoke up, "This is probably a good spot to call it a day."

Ichigo nodded, "Yeah, we still have to tell my family after this, too." He was really not looking forward to that conversation.

They all stood up and paid, before all going outside. They all exchanged farewells and promised to stay in touch while Ichigo and Rukia were both in the World of the Living. After saying goodbye to everyone, Ichigo and Rukia began walking side by side towards the Kurosaki family clinic.

"You know…" Rukia said, "What you said at the restaurant earlier was really sweet."

"What?" Ichigo asked, confused.

"That I was in every future you imagined." Rukia clarified.

"Oh…I hadn't really meant to be so sappy. I just…" His voice trailed off.

"That reminds me…" Rukia said, with a smirk on her lips. "You never did tell me what you and my brother talked about before…"

"Ah…." Ichigo stammered. He hadn't been expecting to talk about that right now. "He asked me the same thing he asked you…If I loved you."

Rukia's face reddened slightly. "I see…And…what did you tell him?"

Ichigo shook his head, "I'm not telling. Or at least..." He paused a second before finding a little more courage, "I'm not telling unless you do too."

Rukia responded slowly, "That…would be fair I suppose."

"Then…? You gonna tell me?" Ichigo prodded.

"You first." Rukia said, embarrassed.

"Promise you'll tell me?" Ichigo asked. When she nodded, he continued. "I said, I wasn't sure. I didn't know if what I feel for you is love or not… But I know that no matter whatever else happens in our lives, with or without a marriage between us, I'd do everything I could to see you happy…" Ichigo's face heated up with embarrassment as he rattled on all the sappy crap he had said to Byakuya. Normally, he'd shut up here or have never said anything in the first place. But he wanted her to know, and the two of them hadn't had much opportunity to talk lately so once he started talking the words flowed out like a river. "You…saved me. From myself. You made me a better person. I'm still not sure what I'm feeling. But…when I'm with you… the world feels more like a place I want to live in…It doesn't feel like it's raining anymore with you around."

After he finished his sort of confession, Ichigo noticed that Rukia's eyes were slightly watery. He was about to ask if everything was okay, when she stopped suddenly and turned to face him with a warm look in her eyes.

"What is i-" Ichigo's question was cut off when Rukia suddenly pulled his head down towards hers and pressed her lips against his.

A kiss. Ichigo knew what was happening. Rukia was kissing him. But it felt like so much more. It felt like everything that was wrong was suddenly better. He felt whole without ever having noticed he felt like he was missing something before. It felt like he was finding answers to questions he'd never thought to ask. His mind wasn't processing anything but her. Her taste, her smell, the feel of her in his arms. She was everything in the world in this one moment. And Ichigo never wanted it to end. The kiss only lasted a few seconds, but that feeling would last a lifetime he was certain.


	6. An Eventful Evening

All around the town, there were signs of life. The day was winding down and people were beginning to head home from work. The sun was hanging low in the sky. The main roads were heavy with foot traffic and sounds of dozens of indistinct conversations. But none of that mattered. As far as Ichigo was concerned the world only went as far as the girl in his arms. This wasn't anything he had expected to happen, but now that it had he was completely lost in it.

When the moment finally passed, they slowly pulled their lips apart. Rukia's face was a few shades redder than it had been before. Ichigo was practically a tomato. Neither of them knew what to say for several moments. They simply stood there for a few seconds in each other's arms.

"That…was unexpected…" Ichigo said, breaking the silence.

"Did you…not like it?" Rukia asked, sheepishly.

"No...I mean, yes? I did…Like it, I mean. I just-" Ichigo stammered.

"That's good." Rukia said warmly, seemingly relieved to hear Ichigo's response. She then pressed her head against Ichigo's chest and squeezed him tightly. "I guess it's my turn to answer isn't it?"

She pulled her head back and met Ichigo's eyes and said, "I love you." As soon as the words left her mouth, she turned even redder and pressed her face back into Ichigo's chest, breaking eye contact.

Ichigo responded by hugging her tighter against his chest. "Now I feel like an idiot for not realizing it sooner…" He muttered quietly.

"What?" Rukia asked, "Do you think my feelings were that obvious or something?"

"No," Ichigo responded, " I mean mine were. I've been dancing around how I feel about you for a long time. Ever since this marriage thing came up…No, that's not right. Since I lost my powers maybe. Or maybe even as far back as when I rescued you. I always told everyone that I was just there because I owed you or something. I just wanted an easy to say excuse. In reality, I just didn't want to live in a world without you in it…" He paused, "Honestly, those seventeen months when I'd lost my powers and couldn't see you were some of the worst times of my life, even though I did everything I could to deny that fact. I went about my life and pretended I was okay, like I didn't miss you…but no one ever really believed it. Least of all, me. I felt like the world was just moving way to fast and I was being left behind. I couldn't keep up…I nearly gave up after everything with the Fullbring…But then, you showed up." He smiled softly. "I'll never forget the sight of you standing there behind me. I hadn't seen you in over a year and you had even changed a little, you'd gotten a new haircut and a new promotion, but you were still the woman I'd fallen for. Even if I didn't really know it yet…" Ichigo trailed off.

Rukia pulled back just far enough to look into Ichigo's eyes again. Ichigo thought that he saw tears in the corner of her eyes, but he barely had time to process that before she pulled his face down toward hers once again. As their lips met once again, Ichigo found himself wishing that this had happened a lot sooner.

A cough from behind them snapped the two of them out of their moment, causing them both to jump a few feet apart. The two of them were mortified when they saw the source of the noise. Isshin Kurosaki was standing a few feet away with a big mischievous grin on his face. Oh no. Ichigo hadn't realized how close they were to his place. They may have been on their way to tell his family about the engagement, but still this was embarrassing.

"WELL DONE, MY BOY!" Isshin shouted loudly enough for the entire neighborhood to hear. "I always knew you had it in you!" He started clapping animatedly. "A regular lady killer, just like your old man!"

Ichigo groaned loudly. Just kill me now, he thought. Hell would be better than listening to his father right now. He took a deep breath to try to calm himself down, but he was shocked to hear Rukia speak.

"Um, good evening." She was a bright shade of red, but she managed to keep her composure for the most part. "We were just on our way to see you, actually. We have something important to tell you."

"Oh? To see me?" Isshin asked quizzically. "You finally decide to join the family officially, Rukia?" He asked in his usual joking manner, unaware of how accurate that was. "If you wanted, I'd be more than willing to adopt you into the family…though given what I just saw you two doing, that may be a bit awkward…" He trailed off.

"Well... Actually, me and Ichigo are getting married." Rukia said simply.

"Well, that's a shame, if only you-", Isshin began seemingly not realizing what she had said. "Wait." His eyes widened. "YOU'RE WHATTTTT?"

This time Ichigo answered, "You heard her. Or are you going deaf in your old age?"

Isshin's face turned serious. It was an expression that Ichigo was still unused to seeing on his old man's face. Usually he maintained his goofy and annoyingly chipper persona no matter what. But he would occasionally become almost respectable. "You're not kidding are you?"

Ichigo stood up straight and looked his father in the eye, "We're serious…I mean, you just saw us."

"True, but a kiss is nothing compared to marriage." Isshin said solemnly. "I always thought that the two of you would end up dating or something, but this seems sudden. As far as I'm aware, you two were just friends this time last month."

"Yeah, we should probably explain that." Ichigo started, "But it'd be better if we only had to do it once, so would you mind waiting until we all get home so that we can tell Yuzu and Karin too?"

Isshin nodded, wordlessly. He lead the two of them the rest of the way back to the Kurosaki Clinic. As they stood outside, Ichigo took a moment to think about everything that happened in his life the past few years. And how it all started when the short little reaper next to him walked into his room looking for a hollow. Who could have ever seen this coming? If someone had told Ichigo that night that the girl who he believed to be a robber at first would one day be his fiancée, he probably would have hit them for being stupid. With a smirk, he looked over at Rukia. "Well, let's go on in."

Dinner was hectic. Not that Ichigo had ever thought it wouldn't be. It was always a noisy affair as far as his family was concerned. His father, for his part was being as energetic as usual. It seemed that Isshin wanted Ichigo and Rukia to be the one's to broach the subject that they had touched upon on the way here, but he didn't want to pressure them into speaking before they were ready. He was occasionally considerate like that. Rarely.

As the dinner began to wind down, Ichigo and Rukia exchanged glances. It was time. "Dad, Yuzu, Karin." Ichigo said, to get their attention. "We've got something to talk to you guys about."

Yuzu looked up at him inquisitively. "What is it, Ichigo?"

"I know this is gonna sound sudden, but…" Ichigo paused, looking around the table before continuing. "Rukia and I are…getting married."

As expected, both Yuzu and Karin were shocked by the news. Isshin had once again shifted back into a more serious mood, undoubtedly awaiting the explanation that they had said was coming. "Since when were you guys even dating?" Karin asked pointedly.

"Uh…we weren't." Ichigo said, he knew that was sure to cause confusion, so he quickly added, "I realize how that sounds, but I promise there's a reason we went from friends to engaged so fast. And it wasn't just some spur of the moment thing."

Yuzu and Karin looked at each other, before looking over at their father. "And why aren't you surprised by this?" Karin asked.

Isshin smiled softly, "I'd already heard this much from them."

"Why did they tell you first?" Yuzu asked.

"I happened to witness them…being 'friendlier' than normal, let's say. I wanted an explanation, but they said it'd be better if they could explain it to us all at once." Isshin replied.

Rukia looked at Ichigo and nodded, "Thank you for being patient. I realize that this is no doubt a lot to take in at once, and I know you must have a million questions. So, I'll do my best to address what I assume you want to know." She paused, "This all came about during Ichigo's stay in the Soul Society after the war. My brother told us that the public morale was still in a poor spot after the war and as such it was taking a long time for things to return to the way that they used to be. With that in mind, he told us of a plan that they Nobles had suggested, that a very public engagement of two of the biggest war heroes would help to take everyone's minds off of the aftereffects of the war. It would give them something nice to focus on for a change…"

At a break in the explanation, Karin interjected, "So you mean to tell me, that you guys are married because…of political benefit?"

"No, we're not." Rukia answered firmly. "That may be what the Nobles all had in mind when they concocted this plan, to be honest, I personally suspect that they don't even care about the public morale at all. It's most likely just some power play in an attempt to make sure that Ichigo here is permanently on the Soul Society's side."

Beside her Ichigo was shocked, "You never mentioned this before."

Rukia looked at him and smiled, "Because it doesn't actually matter what they want out of this. We want this." She placed her hand over his and gave it a little squeeze, then she looked back over at the rest of Ichigo's family sitting across from them, "We are getting married because we want to. The plan was mentioned to us, but we weren't forced into it or anything. We had every chance to say no, or to back out of it. But we chose to go through with it all. This has nothing to do with being a public service for morale, or some ploy to bring Ichigo into the fold. This is just a matter of me…loving him. And him loving me. And in the end, that's all that matters."

Ichigo's face had gotten a few shades redder during her speech, he wasn't expecting her to be so sappy. Not that he disagreed with anything she was saying, it was just embarrassing to hear it out loud in front of his family. He looked at his father and saw him returning his gaze. His father was inspecting him closely with a small smile.

"Are you two sure about this? It's a big step. Are you sure that you want to spend your lives together? No matter what?" Isshin asked the two of them.

At the question, Ichigo laughed a little, "We were gonna spend our lives together even without the marriage thing…Even if none of this had happened, I just know that we would always be an important part of each other's lives. And I don't personally believe that there's anyone out there who could change my world as much as she has." He took a breath, "So yes. I am sure. More than I've ever been about anything."

Rukia nodded, "No matter what our destinies were intertwined. Even our literal souls are connected. So no matter what it feels like fate would always bring us together in the end." She smiled before continuing, "And to be perfectly honest, there is no one I'd rather have by my side than Ichigo. There is no one I trust more in the whole world. And he saved me. And I don't mean from being executed. I mean he…helped me find a reason to live when I believed there was none. And now just looking into his eyes makes me want to stay by his side forever."

Again, Ichigo was surprised by how emotionally charged Rukia's answers were. Though he completely understood what she meant. And he felt the same way about her. To an extent, he appreciated that Rukia was being as upfront as she was, because he wanted his family to know the truth, without any filters. It'd make it easier for them to understand their position he hoped.

As if on cue, Isshin began to speak, "I can see that you two care deeply about each other. To be honest, I knew that already anyway." He smiled a big goofy grin like he usually wore, "And if you were looking for my blessing, well you've had that for a long time as far as I was concerned. I'd been expecting something between you two for a long time now, after all."

The rest of the meal passed uneventfully, with lame jokes from Isshin aplenty. As the night was drawing to a close, The girls and their father invited Rukia to spend the night like she always used to back when she was staying with them. Yuzu offered to room with Karin and let Rukia have her room for the night. Naturally, Rukia accepted.

It was a little past midnight. Ichigo lay in bed staring up at the roof recalling the events of the day. All the people they had told the news. But most of all he remembered Rukia. The confessions. The kisses. The hugs. It kept his heart racing and made it practically impossible to sleep. So he was reduced to laying in his bed staring up at his unchanging roof hoping for something to help him relax.

At that moment, he heard a light knock on his door. It was so light that at first, he assumed he had simply imagined it. Nonetheless he sat up and listened intently for a few moments, before he heard it again. Curious he got up and walked over to his door and opened it slowly. On the other side stood Rukia, in her pajamas. She smiled sweetly at Ichigo.

"I'm having trouble falling asleep." She said quietly. She looked down. "I was wondering…" Her face reddened as she spoke her next words, "I was wondering if I could…sleep with you tonight?"


End file.
